Parliamentary questions

425. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the priority the Government is giving to the delivery of affordable housing throughout County Kerry for working individuals and families who are above the income threshold for social housing but cannot afford to purchase a home at current market prices; if funding has been set aside to accelerate the delivery of affo…

426. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to consider raising the retirement age beyond 62 to 66 for a retained or a full-time fire fighter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50770/26]

427. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the main policy achievements of his Department since 22 January 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50805/26]

428. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the criteria for a settlement to attain village status; and the number of such applications that have been made, by county, in the past ten years, both successful and unsuccessful. [50865/26]

429. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the way spatial planning policy is assisting or seeking to assist in the preservation and proliferation of public services in rural communities. [50868/26]

430. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has modelled or investigated the impact of planning regulations on the availability of shops in small rural villages. [50871/26]

431. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when he expects the proposed national planning statement for the Gaeltacht to be published; whether it is intended to publish a draft for public consultation before it is finalised; how Gaeltacht communities and representative organisations will be consulted during its preparation; and if he will make a statem…

432. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures being taken to support the delivery of additional housing in Gaeltacht areas; whether his Department has assessed how the proposed changes to planning policy may affect the availability of housing for people wishing to live in their local Gaeltacht communities; and if he will make a statement on t…

433. Deputy Frankie Feighan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has reviewed the current criteria around the T-test (subsurface percolation test), which assesses subsoil permeability for an on-site wastewater treatment system (e.g., a septic tank or treatment plant) as part of the on-going review around rural planning guidelines (details supplied). [5090…

434. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to allow for the replacement of old or defective double-glazed windows under the housing grant scheme, with new double-glazed windows, especially if they are not fit for purpose, drafty, rusty or leaking; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50907/26]

435. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider publishing a partial SAC management plan to cover salmon restoration actions for this environmental emergency given the Boyne salmon stocks only achieving 10 percent of its conservation limit, a qualifying interest for the Boyne /Kells Blackwater SAC; and if he will make a statement on the…

436. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 620 of 27 January 2026 and 200 of 18 February 2026, the circumstances or criteria that apply in order for an SAC management plan to be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50923/26]

437. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of WTE biodiversity data specialists employed by National Parks and Wildlife Service as of 29 June 2026, in tabular form. [50945/26]

438. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide the date on which the vacant above the shop grant scheme became operational; the date on which applications first opened; the date on which the first application was received; the date on which the first application was approved; and the date on which the first grant payment was made, in tabula…

439. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide the number of applications received under the vacant above the shop grant scheme; the number approved; the number refused; the number deemed invalid or withdrawn; the number currently awaiting decision; the number of applications awaiting decision for less than one month, one to three months, t…

440. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide the amount of funding allocated under the vacant above the shop grant scheme in 2026; the amount committed; the amount drawn down or paid to date; the remaining balance available; and whether funding is allocated in advance to local authorities or drawn down on foot of approved applications, an…

441. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total Exchequer funding provided for the vacant above the shop grant scheme in 2026; the total amount committed and paid to date; whether the scheme is a new standalone scheme or a continuation or expansion of an existing scheme; and the annual Exchequer funding provided for a predecessor scheme in ea…

442. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether every local authority is fully operational in administering the vacant above the shop grant scheme; if not, to identify the local authorities that are not yet fully operational; the reasons therefor, whether a local authority has reported staffing, administrative or operational difficulties to his…

443. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide the average processing time for applications under the vacant above the shop grant scheme; the number and value of grant payments made to date; the estimated number of residential units expected to be delivered through approved applications, by local authority, in tabular form. [50967/26]

444. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to examine the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51006/26]

445. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the current status of the proposed transfer of responsibility for the regulation of owners' management companies and apartment management from the Department of Justice Home Affairs and Migration to his Department; the actions taken to-date to progress this transfer; the expected timeline for its completion; a…

446. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether the regulations relating to service charges and sinking funds for owners' management companies, provided for under the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011, remain under consideration; when it is expected that these regulations will be introduced; whether additional resources are planned for the Housing Ag…

447. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the supports that are available from the Government and State agencies for old age pensioners in vulnerable positions whose mortgages and properties were bought by private equity funds and are now being evicted by such funds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51077/26]

448. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide details of projects approved from the €650 million allocated to his Department to support improvements in water quality as part of the €3.15 billion of the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund (ICNF); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51106/26]

449. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his attention has been drawn to concerns that local authority planning policies relating to residential driveways and the protection of mature trees may, in some cases, create unintended barriers to the installation of domestic electric vehicle charging infrastructure; whether consideration has been given t…